Colts Neck BOE To Discuss Unresolved Teacher Contracts Tonight

In an email sent to parents on Tuesday, the Colts Neck Board of Education announced that the local teachers' association has rejected the recommendations of a settlement of the ongoing teacher contract negotiations.

The letter states that although the BOE was willing to accept all terms laid out by a third party mediator, the Colts Neck Township Education Association rejected some items and therefore the entire proposal.

The teachers accepted the proposed length of the contract and salary, but rejected insurance workday modifications and .

In September, the administration and teachers failed to reach an agreement about , among other thing negotiations, leading to its cancellation. 

The Board of Education is expected to speak about the matter at its meeting tonight at 7 p.m. in the .

The following is the message sent to parents by the Colts Neck Board of Education: 

The membership of The Colts Neck Township Education Association (CNTEA) has rejected an independent Fact-Finder’s recommendations for settlement to the ongoing negotiations for a successor agreement to the contract which expired on June 30, 2011, last year.  

The terms of the agreement accepted by the Board of Education but rejected by the CNTEA are:

• A three-year contract, beginning July 1, 2011 and ending on June 30, 2014.
• Salaries in 2011-12 increased by 1% from July 1, 2011 with an additional 1% on July 1, 2012.
• Salaries in 2012-13 increased by 3% over the prior year.
• Salaries in 2013-14 increased by 3% over the prior year.
• The more expensive PPO Health Plan would no longer be available at the end of the 2012-13 school year, resulting in all employees being covered by the POS Health Plan.
• Middle School instructional time and other workday contract language would be modified to include an increase in instructional time for core curriculum classes, as well as related arts and Spanish.
• A return to the past practice of teachers attending Back to School nights.

The Board of Education was notified on June 15, 2012, by the Vice President of the Colts Neck Township Education Association that the Association “must reject the Mediator’s proposal”. 

This very disappointing announcement comes after many months of costly negotiations, which included the appointment of a State Mediator and two lengthy meetings with an independent “fact finder”  The fact finder presented an efficient and timely resolution called a “Mediation Proposal to Settle” in hopes of resolving  the dispute.  He gave both sides a deadline to either accept or reject the offer, in its entirety.  Although the Colts Neck Township Board of Education was not in favor of all of the elements of the recommendations for settlement, the board accepted the proposal.

By only accepting the length of contract and salary proposals and rejecting the insurance, workday modifications and Back to School Night portions, the CNTEA has disregarded the Fact-Finder’s recommendation to end this long ordeal

Since the Association has rejected the independent fact finder’s Proposal for Settlement, the negotiations process will continue with a formal fact-finding hearing and submission of a formal non-binding Fact-Finder’s report.  This process will be time-consuming, expensive and most likely result in the same recommendations for settlement.

The Association has missed another opportunity to end this costly process and permit the district to implement the new Middle School schedule for the 2012-13 school year.  In order to do what is in best of students and the school community as a whole, the Board was willing to compromise and move forward.